This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/04/tunisias-president-declares-state-of-emergency-sousse-terrorist-attack
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Tunisia's president declares state of emergency following terrorist attack | Tunisia's president declares state of emergency following terrorist attack |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Tunisia’s president, Beji Caid Essebsi, has declared a state of emergency, eight days after 38 foreign tourists, most of them British, were killed in an Islamist gun attack. | |
| The state of emergency temporarily gives the government more flexibility and the army and police more authority, and restricts the right of public assembly. | The state of emergency temporarily gives the government more flexibility and the army and police more authority, and restricts the right of public assembly. |
| The president was expected to address the nation on television late on Saturday afternoon, the official news agency, Tunisie Afrique Presse (TAP), reported. | |
| Related: Final five bodies of Britons killed in Tunisia attack arrive in UK | |
| The declaration came as the final five bodies of the 30 British victims killed in the attack on the beach resort of Sousse arrived back in the UK. | The declaration came as the final five bodies of the 30 British victims killed in the attack on the beach resort of Sousse arrived back in the UK. |
| There has been criticism of the slow response by security services to the attack by Islamist militant Seifeddine Rezgui, who opened fire on the beach in front of the Imperial Marhaba hotel in Sousse on 26 June. He was eventually shot dead by Tunisian police in an alley. | There has been criticism of the slow response by security services to the attack by Islamist militant Seifeddine Rezgui, who opened fire on the beach in front of the Imperial Marhaba hotel in Sousse on 26 June. He was eventually shot dead by Tunisian police in an alley. |
| The Tunisian prime minister, Habib Essid, admitted in an interview with the BBC that the police were too slow to respond. “The time of the reaction – this is the problem,” he said, adding that the police had been blocked everywhere. | |
| In the aftermath of the attack, the authorities announced they would move more speedily to close 80 mosques operating without official authorisation, or where the imam delivering the Friday sermon was found to be preaching extreme views. | In the aftermath of the attack, the authorities announced they would move more speedily to close 80 mosques operating without official authorisation, or where the imam delivering the Friday sermon was found to be preaching extreme views. |
| Scores more mosques are under review for possible closure, the Religious Affairs Ministry told the Guardian. These include small unofficial mosques opened clandestinely by jihad Salafist groups, as well as ordinary neighbourhood mosques. | Scores more mosques are under review for possible closure, the Religious Affairs Ministry told the Guardian. These include small unofficial mosques opened clandestinely by jihad Salafist groups, as well as ordinary neighbourhood mosques. |
| Tunisia last had a state of emergency during the 2011 uprising against the autocratic regime of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. | Tunisia last had a state of emergency during the 2011 uprising against the autocratic regime of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. |
| Under the country’s new constitution, approved in January last year, the president has the right “in the event of imminent danger threatening the nation’s institutions, or the security or independence of the country” to “take any measures necessitated by the exceptional circumstances”. | Under the country’s new constitution, approved in January last year, the president has the right “in the event of imminent danger threatening the nation’s institutions, or the security or independence of the country” to “take any measures necessitated by the exceptional circumstances”. |
| The parliament will “be deemed to be in a state of continuous session” throughout the state of emergency. The president “cannot dissolve” the parliament, the constitution states. | The parliament will “be deemed to be in a state of continuous session” throughout the state of emergency. The president “cannot dissolve” the parliament, the constitution states. |